Job Descriptions in A Startup Biotech Company
Here are a few examples of the diverse roles you might find yourself in, outside the realm of your mainstream scientific research. If you ARE setting up your own business, keep each of these elements in mind while preparing your business plan, as they are parts of the industry you will eventually have to deal with.
Business Development
The number one rule for running any small business is don't forget about networking. Building strong relationships with others in your industry will help when it comes to filling the gaps in your knowledge base.
Accounting/Bookkeeping
This applies to scientists that have made a new discovery and are in the process of starting a business to support the development, commercialization and/or licensing of their product. A small business owner is likely to hire an accountant to deal with the complexities of income taxes at the end of the year, but in the meantime, you might try your hand at handling the day to day books using software programs like Quickbooks or Simply Accounting.
This means becoming familiar with accounting terms and methods, sales tax rules, the complexities of payroll, workplace insurance and how to handle assets.
Equipment Repair
A restricted budget means the possibility of having to be frugal with equipment purchases and repairs, perhaps buying used lab equipment, or reconditioned incubators, centrifuges, fermentation units, etc. This could also mean no warranties and limited funds for servicing. You may be asked to do everything possible to fix equipment before giving in and calling the repair shop.
Information Technology Expert
Companies that are starting out usually don't have IT personnel on staff and employees are expected to take care of their own PC maintenance. Since many of us have computers at home, this isn't as daunting a task as it may have been 10 years ago.
However, workplace systems might be more complex when it comes to integrating desktops with manufacturing PAT systems, or data collection units on microscopes, gas chromatographers, plate readers etc., in the R&D lab, in addition to linking everyone's computers on a company network, and setting up e-mail and XML systems (for the pharmaceutical industry).
Furthermore, security is crucial to keeping company secrets and a disaster recovery plan is a must! A startup might spring for a single consulting visit to help formulate a plan, but implementation and upkeep may fall on the shoulders of non-IT staff.
Legal/Licensing
The biotech industry involves a lot of licensing and legal paperwork, but a startup doesn't have the funding to run to a lawyer every time something needs reviewing. For the most important contracts and applications, legal aid makes sense, but you may be asked to prepare at least the first drafts of patent applications and contracts.
There are also a lot of other legal obligations to running a research laboratory that need to be dealt with, not necessarily by an expert in law. These are dealing with emissions regulators, health and safety and/or ISO Certification documents and applications, shipping regulations (TDG/HazMat) and collaborative and funding agreements for financing a startup.
Unless you did a degree in science and law, this might mean brushing up on some of the jargon associated with each issue, a lot of the regulatory requirements, and will certainly challenge your writing skills.
A Broader Scope in the Sciences
Maybe you studied food microbiology but now you are applying your skills to an environmental biofuels laboratory. The fundamentals don't change whether you are studying bio-degradation of environmental contaminants for bio-remediation, or drug metabolism in a microbial cell, but you may find over time those transferable skills have carried you far beyond your original course of study.
In addition, in a small company, you might be challenged to pick up a little more knowledge of toxicology, physics, botany, chemistry or other sciences, than where your expertise lie.
If none of the above scares you, a career in biotechnology and drug development might be the perfect fit. The constant challenge and expanding knowledge base, and the day to day variety, are some of the biggest reasons to work for a biotech startup or embark on a course of entrepreneurship in the first place.
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